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Growing
Sugarbeets A Continual
Learning Process
By Lois Kerr
 Retired
grower Arnold Dige believes the big key to successful sugarbeet
crops lies in continual learning and the sharing of ideas. Since
people first started growing sugarbeets in this valley, growers
have learned from one another, from Holly Sugar staff and from
personal trial and error. “Learning is ongoing,” Dige remarks.
“We learn as we go, and all the changes we’ve seen through the
years, from using micro weights when spraying for weeds to
developing single germ seeds all came from learning.”
He continues, “Back in the early ‘30’s
when sugarbeets were a new crop in the valley, farmers got
together to discuss problems. These men taught one another how to
grow beets, and they all learned as they went.”
Dige explains that the learning process
continued through the years, and growers still teach one another
and learn from experience. “We all like to come up with
something that gives us the best sugar,” he says. “We watch
our neighbor try something, and if it works for them, we try it
ourselves. It’s just a continuation of the way our fathers
taught one another.”
Dige himself has worked in sugarbeets all
his life. His father grew a few acres of beets in the ‘30’s.
“We had a small acreage in beets,” Dige recalls. “We also
had livestock, and we grew corn for silage, alfalfa and feed
grains.”
He adds, “Back then, when we used horse
power instead of tractor power, we had to do everything the hard
way.”
Dige began farming on his own farm in 1954.
He originally owned 85 acres and fed livestock in the winter. Dige
points out that through the years, learning new methods, the
invention of better equipment and seed varieties, along with new
ideas and gaining more knowledge all paved the way for tremendous
changes in the sugar industry. “I’ve seen lots of changes,”
he remarks. “For instance, beet seed used to come in big
clusters. We’d get three or four plants out of each seed, and
we’d have to plant thickly to get a stand. Hand labor hoed and
thinned the beets after the plants came up.”
Dige points to the overuse of manure as
another hard lesson learned in growing quality sugarbeets. “We
used to haul waste from feedlots and dump it anywhere on beet
fields for fertilizer,” Dige remembers. “This isn’t done
anymore. Too much nitrogen from the fertilizer makes beet tops
bigger and gives lower sugar content.”
Learning the value of soil testing led to
better use of nitrogen and the resulting better quality beets.
“Soil testing has really increased in the past ten years,”
Dige says. “We now fertilize each field according to the soil
sample results. We’ve limited the amount of nitrogen because
we’ve learned that too much nitrogen, or applying it at the
wrong time, can be bad for beets.”
He continues, “Soil tests regulate what we
put on the soil. We are striving for high sugar so we don’t want
to add any more to the soil than the tests call for.”
Dige believes new information and new ideas
have led to a lot of new knowledge in chemical and fertilizer use.
“People have done a marvelous job in getting chemicals and
fertilizers to work properly,” he says. “We now know it’s
best to be on the early side for spraying. Our knowledge and our
learning keeps increasing, and we get more efficient and have
better results as a consequence.”
Dige also saw the demise of many small
livestock operations through the years, thanks to increased
feedlot activity. “I used to have 250 head of cattle,” he
says. “I got out of cows when I got more farmland. Also,
feedlots were setting up and the competition got stiffer.”
With the change from horsepower to tractor
power, farms increased in size. The factory increased in size, as
well. “We could do more with better equipment, so the size of
farms increased,” Dige explains. “The factory got bigger so
they could handle more beets. The factory and the farmers grew
together.”
Dige also points out that Holly Sugar
changed the way growers received payment for their crop. “The
factory originally took the average overall sugar content and paid
growers accordingly,” he remarks. “They later changed it so
each grower had his sugar content tested individually, and each
farmer got paid according to his individual sugar content. This
made the grower willing to learn more and try harder to get better
beets.”
Some things never seem to change much. Dige
explains that regardless of increased beet acreage and better
equipment, beet harvest still takes him approximately three weeks
to complete. “It has always taken about three weeks to finish
beet harvest,” he says. “In ’48, we had a one row beet
digger and had to travel in second gear. Now we can go in fourth
or fifth gear and take four rows at a time, but as we got bigger
and better ways to harvest beets, we increased acres. It still
takes us about as long to harvest beets today as it took us 40
years ago.”
He adds, “At least we now have cabs on the
tractors. On those old tractors without cabs, it was dirty, windy
and cold. We wore a bundle of clothing in the mornings when we
first went out to harvest.”
Dige believes growing beets offers both
rewards and challenges. “The best part of growing sugarbeets is
the satisfaction of seeing them grow and do well,” he says.
“The worst is trying to stay efficient. Expenses have really
skyrocketed with tractors, chemicals, fertilizers, repairs and
fuel. All these things are so high in price.”
He continues, “Free trade has really hurt
sugar prices, but it has forced us to become more efficient. Sugar
content has to be high in order to make any money.”
Dige points to the fluctuations in sugar
prices. “Sugar has been up and down,” he remarks. “I hope
that things change so the industry can survive. Sugar keeps this
whole area going. We need a good crop, and a lot of it, to
survive.”
He adds, “I love farming. I was brought up
on the farm, and I’ve had good luck with it. I just hope things
work out for the next generation.”
Although Dige officially retired from
farming this spring, he still helps his son on the farm whenever
he can. He also expects to participate with this year’s beet
harvest. |